Trunnion-blocks of gun-mountings.



A. T. DAWSON & G. T. BUCKHAM.

TRUNNION BLOCKS 0F GUN MOUNTINGS. APPLICATION FILED AUG. I7. 1912.

l 1 7 l ,099. Patented Feb. 9.16.

2 SHEETS-S www Wrwc S SCS-" A. T. DAWSON & G. T. BUCKHAM.

TRUNNION BLOCKS OF GUN MOUNTINGS.

APPLICATION FILED Aue. I1. 19I2.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lgvew Zors:

M4 75W www a3/)gm M THE coLuMBlA PLAgloaP/.PH cn., WASHINGTON, n. c.

'UNITED sTATEs PATENT oruron ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON AND GEORGE THOMASBUCKHAM, 0F WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS T0 VICKERS LIMITED,OF WESTMINSTER,

ENGLAND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

Application filed August 17, 1912. Serial No. 715,583.v

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR Tnnvon DAWSON, knight, and GEORGE THOMASBUCKHAM, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at VickersHouse, Broadway, Vestminster, in the county of London, England, havevinvented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to theTrunnion-Blocks of Gun-Mountings, ofwhich the following is aspeciication.

This invention relates to trunnion blocks for use with gun mountings(particularly pedestal mountings) in which the gun and its cradle areadapted to be drawn in a rearward direction when it is desired to bringthe trunnion blocks out of their recesses in the side cheeks of thecarriage for the purpose of housing the gun.l y

According to our invention we provide each of Vthe trunnion blocks witha locking member which is situated in front of the trunnions instead ofto the rear as heretofore, and which is adapted to be actuated, eitherdirectly or through gearing, by a handle that moves the locking memberinto or out of engagement with a part of the carriage. The recess in theside cheek of the carriage with which the front portion of the trunnionblock engages is so formed that the said block is surrounded by themetal of the carriage cheek, and the locking member .is carriedin atransverse gap in the trunnion block in such a manner that it can en1gage with the carriage `cheek in two places. By these means thenecessary resisting sur- 4face yand strength of the locking blocks isobtained by one member and the carriage can also be made much shorter atthe front. The said handle may, as has heretofore been proposed, be soconstructed that vit cannot be removed unless the locking member is inthe locking position and is so arranged that when the locking member isin the unlocked position the sight is prevented from being placed in itsholder;` thus the gun cannot be sighted and fired before the Vtrunnionblocks are locked'to the side cheeks of the carriage.

Each of the trunnion blocks maybe fur-1 f nishedA with a bush in whichthe trunnion iseccentrically mounted, sol that byaltering the positionof each of the bushes in the trunnion blocks the trunnions can beadjusted as regards the distance of their axes from the axis of thecenter pivot about which the gun moves in training, for the purpose ofbalancing the total load about the pivotas would be required in suchcircumstances for'example as the removal or addition of a shield. A

In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect we will describe the same more fully with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a longitudinalvertical section showing a trunnion block, furnished with ourimprovements, in position in the recess provided for it in the cheeks ofthe carriage. Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken approximately on theline 1, 1 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transversesection taken approximatelyon Y Vthe line 2, 2 of Fig. 1, the locking member for the trunnionblockl being shown in the locked position. Fig. 4 is a view similar toFig. 3 showing the locking member in the unlocked position, and` Fig. 5is a horizontal section taken approximately on the lineB, 3 of Fig. 1.Fig. 6 is a side elevation, and Fig. 7 a plan showing the manner inwhich the sight is prevented from being placed in its holder when theactuating handle of the locking member is in place, and the lockingmember is in the unlocked condition.

In these figures, A is one of the side cheeks of the gun carriage, B thecradle and C one of the trunnions.

D represents one of thetrunnion blocks and D thezbush in which thetrunnion is eccentrically mounted.

E represents the locking member and E its actuating handle.

The locking member E is in thev example shown in the form of a disk withtwo fiattened parallel portions on either side of its center, the widthof the member at this point being slightly less than the width of thetrunnion block D and consequently ythan thatof the trunnion block recessinto which the front end of the trunnion block fits. The locking memberEn is disposed within `a transverse gap e in the said frontend of thetrunnion block and is rigidly mounted on a spindle e', carriedlongitudinally in the said block.v The walls of the carriage cheek areformed with vertical slots a, a. which,lwhen Y the trunnion block is inits foremost position, lie opposite the locking member E, so

that whenv the latter is in the horizontal or locking position shown inFigs. l to 3 its ends engage in the slots a, a and prevents the trunnionblock D from being displaced.V Whenthe locking member.V is in theverticalV4 position shown in Fig. 4c, its ends are rearrow in Fig. l.The spindle carrying the I tion in a straight groove d (Fig. 5)A in thelocking member E is provided at its rear end with a bevel segment 'e2(Fig. 5) gearing with a lbevel pinion 62X on a transverse spindle excarried by a bracket DX connectedto the trunnion block D. The outer endVof the said spindle is made hexagonal to vreceive a lsimilarly shaped`socket eX onthe shank of the actuating handle E". a

To prevent the handle from being removed froni the spindlev ex unlessthe locking member E is in the locked position the socket 6X ispreferably provided with a lug or projection e3 which is adapted toengage during the placing of the handle in posibracket DX and during thelocking movement of the handle, in a circumferential groove d* in theinner surface of the said bracket. The

Ishank of `the said handle.l projects vlaterally fromthe mounting'insuch a'manner vthat it occupies a position that prevents the sight F'(shown'in chain lines in Figs. 6k and' 7) from being placed in theholder F It will thus be evident that as the handle EX` can f bewithdrawn Vfrom its position on the spindle ex yonlyvwhen the lockingmember E' is Vin the locked position, the sightl cannot be placed in itsholderand the gun consequently cannot be sighted, when the handle is inplace andthe locking memberis in the unlocked position.

parts is shown in Figs.'V 6 and.

The herein described forml ofr trunnion block enables the trunnionsy tobe carried right through the 'side cheeks. of ythe carriageand anvextension CX to be formed on the 'same for supporting the sight. Theaforesaid bush D in which the trunnion is eccentrically mounted is,inthe example shown in Fig. l, of elliptical shape and has between itand the bearing d a number Vof.

`rollers carried in a cage d2. Inl order to. adjustthe distance of thevtrunnions from the axis vof the vertical vtraining pivot kto Ycompensate for lack of balance, `each of the trunnion blocks is removedandthe elliptical bush Dtaken out ofl position inA theV trun.

nion block, turned over so'that its forward part occupies a positiontoward therea'r. and

This condition ofthe is then replaced, when it is obvious that theposition of the Atrunnions will.l be .moved either forward or rearwardlwith-respect to the training pivot as required.

' trunnion blocks and situated in front of the trunnions which'passthrough the trunnion blocks, means for moving said members into and outof engagement with slots formed` in the side walls of the longitudinalrecesses, and sight supporting extensions on the trunnions, saidextensions passing through slots in the outer side walls of saidrecesses for the passage of said extensions when the gun is being housedand replaced in position.

2. In a gun mounting, the combination of v the carriage side cheeks,trunnion blocks slidably disposed in longitudinal recesses therein, thesaid recesses being so rformed that the forward ends of the trunnionblocks are surrounded by the walls Lof the recesses, locking memberscarried by the trunnion blocks and situated in front of the trunnionswhich pass through the trunnion blocks, means for moving said membersinto and out of engagement with slots formed in the side walls of thelongitudinal recesses, `and sight' supporting extensions'onthe'trunnions, said extensions passing through slots in the outer sidewalls of said recesses for the passage of' said extensions when the gunis beingl housed and replaced in position.

3. In agun mounting, the vcombination of the carriage. side cheeks,trunnion blocks slidably disposed in longitudinal Arecesses therein, thetrunnion blocks and situated in front of rotary 'locking memberslcarried by the trunnions which pass throughthe trun-V nion blocks, meansfor moving said meinbers into and out of rengagement with slots formediii the sidewalls of the longitudinal recesses, and sight supportingextensionson the trunnions, said extensions through slots in theouter'side-walls of said recesses for the passage of said extensionswhen the gun is being housedv and ,replacedl in position.

passingy r` 4:. Ina gun mounting, the combination of 5 the carriageyside cheeks, trunnion blocks slidably disposed in longitudinal recesses120 therein, locking kmembers carried by the trunnion blocks andsituated in front ofthe trunnions which pass through the trunnion' iblocks, sight supporting extensions on the trunnions, said extensionspassing through slots in the outer side. walls of said recesses for thepassage, of said extensions-when tha i gun is vbeing housed and replacedin posi "ftion, and means carried by the jtrunnion blocks vand situatedin front of' said Vexten-l lthe carriage side cheeks, trunnion blocksslidably disposed in longitudinal recesses therein, the said recessesbeing so formed that the forward ends of the trunnion blocks aresurrounded by the walls of the recesses, locking members carried by thetrunnion blocks and situated in front of the trunnions which passthrough the trunnion blocks, sight supporting extensions on thetrunnions, said extensions passing through slots in the outer side wallsof said recesses for the passage of said extensions when the gun isbeing housed and replaced in position, and means carried by the trunnionblocks and situated in front of said extensions for moving said membersinto and out of engagement with slots formed in the side wall of thelongitudinal recesses.

6. In a gun mounting, the combination of the carriage side cheeks,trunnion blocks slidably disposed in longitudinal recesses therein,rotary locking members carried by the trunnion blocks and situated infront of the trunnions which pass through the v trunnion blocks, sightsupporting extensions on the trunnions, said extensions passing throughslots in the'outer side Walls of said Gopies of this patent may beobtained for vented from being placed in position when the lockingmember is in the unlocked condition.

8. In a gun mounting, the combination of ay trunnion block, a lockingmember for said block, an actuating handle for said member, and a sightsupport so positioned in relation to the handle that the latter preventsthe sight from being placed in position when the locking member is inthe unlocked condition.

9. In a gun mounting, the combination with the side cheeks of thecarriage, of a trunnion block mounted therein, a bush in which one ofthe gun trunnions is eccentrically mounted, and means for enabling thesaid bush after having been withdrawn from the trunnion block andinverted to be replaced in the block with the gun trunnion in a di'erentposition relatively to the side cheeks.

10. In a gun mounting, the combination with the side cheeks of thecarriage, of a trunnion block mounted therein, and an ellipticallyshaped bush in which one of the trunnions is mounted, said block havingan elliptically shaped recess to receive the bush in one or other of twopositions.

l1. In a gun mounting, the combination with the side cheeks of thecarriage, of a trunnion block mounted therein, an elliptically shapedbush in which one of the trunnions is mounted, said block havinganelliptically shaped recess to receive the bush in one or other of twopositions, and a cage of rollers interposed between said bush and thetrunnion block.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of tWowitnesses.

' ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON.

GEORGE THOMAS BUOKHAM.

Vitnesses:

HENRY KING, JNO. R. OASWELL.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D.C.

